Current urbanization trends and projections clearly indicate that the global South cities, especially of Asia and Africa, would be at the receiving end of about 80% of the expected 2.7 billion increase in urban population between 2010 and 2050. These trends and projections make it imperative for the future planning of the global South cities to step out of the box, away from the traditional planning systems, and begin to adopt inclusive and innovative planning approaches that would efficiently tackle the current and emerging urban realities in these cities rather than sticking to rigid planning standards that ignore realities, generate continuous conflict, and fail to take advantage of the potentials of these urbanization consequences, especially the resilient informal economy. The chapter examines the urbanization trends and one of its major challenges in global South cities; informal economic activities, the planning implications of these informal economic activities, various approaches that have been adopted by different governments and the effectiveness or otherwise of the approaches in tackling the challenges of informal economy. The chapter also focuses on the successful planning approaches that have been implemented with a view to portraying the key lessons that can ensure its applicability in other global South cities facing similar challenges.
Part of the book: Sustainability in Urban Planning and Design
Most cities in the global south have evolved overtime with significant organic changes in their wake. One of the noticeable changes is the emergence of pockets of city-based agricultural activities, a previously rural-based activity. There are varying interpretations behind this new trend. With increased agglomeration arising from rural-urban migration, residents resort to farming as a panacea to urban challenges. Even employed urban residents resort to agriculture for supplementary income. This emerging scenario has generated debates, dialectics, and polemics among stakeholders as to the propriety or otherwise of this development. This chapter, therefore, takes a panoramic view to all the sides of the issue through review scoping of desktop research method. Specifically, it examines the scope of increase in urban agriculture (UA), the types and nature of UA; urban planners’ attitude towards UA, and then propose the management strategies such as promoting agriculture-friendly urban plans for access to agricultural land and practices. The findings revealed that UA takes place on residential land, undeveloped private/public lands, and riverbanks. The prominent UA activities are animal husbandry, aquaculture, cultivation of food and cash crops, etc. The urban-planning measures for integrating UA into the urban environment include inculcating UA-responsive policies in broad plans.
Part of the book: Sustainable Development Dimensions and Urban Agglomeration